Ambary Gardens: A Heavenly Haven for Hemp

Ambary Gardens – Evergreen, CO

Having the chance to tour the Ambary Gardens was a truly rewarding experience. As a longtime fan of their CBD athletic salves, I was blown away to see the magnitude of their budding hemp operation. Their garden is located literally just off the side of the road along CO-74 in Evergreen, where all of their in-house products are cultivated and processed. We were greeted by their Director of Operations, Sam Abilmona, who gave us an exciting and thorough tour of the greenhouse growing facility. This was my first time in the presence of hemp plants, and at their peak they were almost indistinguishable from top-shelf cannabis plants. In fact, I wouldn’t have realized it was hemp if someone hadn’t told me otherwise!

Ambary Gardens – Colorado Grow

Each of the four green rooms represent a different stage in the life cycle of the plant, and Sam explained their process as he led us through the facility, starting from the youngest plants to the more flowered and mature ladies. “We do our best to utilize nature and mimic the symbiotic relationship between water, soil, animals and plants.” Sam explained. “We don’t just grow hemp. We raise fish, condition soil, grow cover crop, and maintain greenhouse conditions that organically provide an optimal environment for growing high-quality, high-CBD hemp.”

Ambary Gardens prioritizes using organic growing techniques and exercising environmental sustainability. Rather than synthetic fertilizers, Ambary Gardens utilizes living, nutrient-rich soil that is only watered with their aquaponics system and the occasional compost tea. This house blend of natural essential oils and soaps, as well as some living predators, keeps pests away—without the use of chemical pesticides. The garden was meticulously clean and vibrant, and the plants had the same aroma and resin (or stickiness) of a medical cannabis grow. Not to mention, the soil that the plants are grown in is watered by their hybrid aquaponic system, fertilized by a large tub brimming with live fish! Living water leads to living soil, and living soil leads to some very happy hemp plants. Ambary Gardens is taking the right steps towards their goal of someday becoming a self-sustaining facility that gives more than it takes from the environment and surrounding community.

Melissa was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago, where she couldn’t stay out of trouble for smoking weed--especially during college. Immediately after graduating with a business degree from Elmhurst College in 2012, Melissa made her way to the safe smoking haven of Colorado, where her love for live music and music blogging eventually led her to a part-time writing position with DOPE Magazine. Melissa enjoys medicating with indica-dominant hybrids, and will never say no to a big solventless glob. When she isn’t busy writing, Melissa loves spending her time in the mountains with friends, practicing her violin, and exploring the never-ending amounts of dank breweries and restaurants in Denver.

As a lifestyle publication, DOPE Magazine is dedicated to creating purposeful, relevant conversations. When we printed our inaugural issue in 2011 we positioned ourselves in the cannabis arena as a team of professionals determined to normalize the plant. While cannabis remains the central theme of our brand, 2017 has marked a turning point in our progression. We’ve built a steadfast framework of inclusivity when speaking about gender, race, class, politics, family and culture—with the ethos DEFEND.